Data storage structures in information processing systems may be affected by different types of errors. Any of these types of errors may make the information processing systems unreliable if the data storage structures are not protected with parity-based or other error detection and/or correction techniques, by changing the values of stored data. However, the storage structures themselves may be affected differently by different types of errors. Hard errors caused by physical defects may render the storage structure permanently unreliable. Soft errors caused by particle strikes may change the value of stored data, but new data may be stored in the same location with no loss of reliability.
In between hard errors and soft errors in terms of reliability, intermittent errors may result from the effects of transient gate oxide leakage current. Transient gate oxide leakage currents may cause the minimum operating voltage at which circuits operate to vary non-deterministically, therefore, even with a guardband applied to the minimum operating voltage specification, nodes within storage structures may become temporarily stuck at a high or a low level. The incidence of intermittent errors is expected to increase as advances in integrated circuit manufacturing provide for smaller circuit dimensions, thinner gate oxides, and reduced operating voltage levels. Low latency data storage structures, such as register files, may be most affected by an increase in intermittent error rates, because they are typically not fully protected by error correction techniques due to the area and delay costs associated with these techniques.